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CENTRAL COAST (NSW) OUTING
REPORT TO PAMBALONG SWAMP, MINMI & ASH ISLAND, SATURDAY 2nd MARCH
2001
35 members and friends of Birding NSW
Central Coast Group met at Minmi in the lower Hunter Valley at 830 hrs and spent
the first two hours at Pambalong Swamp. The swamp had recently refilled with
water following a dry period over Christmas and the commonest birds present were
Straw-necked and White Ibis & Black Swans, of which hundreds of each species
were present. For whatever reason one White Ibis and one Straw-necked Ibis were
seen to be constructing nests in the small paperbarks present in the Swamp. 57
species seen here including a Wedge-tailed Eagle, Hobby, Whistling Kites, one or
two Latham's Snipe, 2 Drongos, Sacred Kingfisher, White-breasted
Woodswallows, a lone Plumed Whistling Duck, plenty of Hardheads and the
other common ducks while Brown Quail were calling throughout our
visit.
Following morning tea when
Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Variegated Fairy-wrens were added to our list, we
moved off to the Ash Island Ponds. Here we caught up with a number of other
birdos who had come to see the Yellow Wagtails present at the Ponds since
23/02/01. While the early visitors were successful in seeing one Yellow Wagtail
prior to our visit, only two people in our group had fleeting views of one bird
throughout the morning. However there is a lot of saltmarsh habitat to cover
when looking for such birds! Our highlights included a Black-tailed Godwit
amongst all the Sharp-tailed & Marsh Sandpipers, Greenshanks, Red-necked
Stints and Eastern Curlews. 100's Black-winged Stilts and Avocets were seen, and
good views were had of 3 Spotted Crakes, a lone adult Gull-billed Tern, 3
Whistling Kites, Brown Falcon, Peregrine, Kestrel, Swamp Harrier and nesting
Black-shouldered Kites. During lunch we had good views of Sea-eagles being
mobbed by Kites and a Kestrel. A short visit to the Rainforest Walk added a few
bushbirds to our list. After we left the Island, Ted Nixon stayed behind and
with 3 other observers combed the ponds area for the Wagtails and at 1830 hrs
they were rewarded with a sighting of one Yellow Wagtail in partial breeding
plumage, north of Crake Corner!
On our return trip we spent some time
at Leneghan Drive Swamp, Minmi where we picked up Yellow-billed Spoonbill,
female Musk Duck, Hoary-headed Grebes, Intermediate Egrets and another Whistling
Tree-duck. Our group had seen 105 species for the day, possibly the highest
number of species observed on a CCFOC Outing!
Alan
Morris
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